In the early days of
Elko, about one hundred thirty years ago, a family's bacon was often raised
in the backyard. As it frequently happens, some porker owners ignored the
rights of their neighbors and allowed their pigs to roam loose in the streets.
Such a situation was bound to have repercussions.

A suffering citizen penned his complaints in a letter to the editor
of the Weekly Elko Independent:

"A serious drawback to the improvement of the town is the fearful scourge
of the porcine family which is investing our precincts, prowling around
our premises, forcing entrance into our yards, committing nightly depredations
on our vegetable gardens and amongst our flower beds, and thus utterly
destroying weeks of labor.

"Pickets (fences) are no impediment to their intrusion for their elephantine
tushes and giving daily demonstrations of the power of their proboscis.
In a refined society of many families, the unseemly sights of these filthy
animals, daily occurring, are most disgusting."

In response to a numerously signed petition, Elko County Commissioners
passed an ordinance compelling owners of hogs to take care of them. County
bosses passing a law was, in itself, a rare act. Until 1917, when Elko
became a city, commissioners governed the town using the motto: "The least
government is the best government."

The new law stated that every citizen has a right to be protected and
that no one has the right to prey upon his neighbor's person and property.
The law provided fines and jail terms for those who allowed their grunter
to roam from its home premises.

A local editor noted: "The law gives ample protection to all and we
do not attempt to justify the wounding and maiming of loose hogs, even
when they root down fences and trespass upon the grounds of anyone. It
is disheartening, of course, to have one's vegetable or flower garden rooted
up an destroyed; but instead of peppering porcine vandals with small shot,
a better way of preventing a repetition of the offense would be to kill
the animal outright. Bear in mind that hogs are not free commoners."

A week after the ordinance passed, the Independent editor wrote:
"The new hog ordinance does not produce any perceptible diminishing of
the numbers of those animals to be seen on our streets. Perhaps the porkers
don't read the paper and have not heard of the passage of the ordinance."

Elko's roaming livestock problem didn't end. Next was an onslaught of
cattle on the town streets. After enduring ten years of stepping in cow
byproducts commissioners passed another ordinance relating to livestock
in 1890. Bovines were, thereafter, denied the use of the streets from April
15 to October 15.

No, that wasn't tourist season back then. Those were the hottest days
that made cow manure smell even worse and provided ideal conditions for
breeding and growing flies. Did I have to explain that? Ugh!

Another thought. Personally, I'm glad we select bacon today by peeking
under the flap on the back of the package.